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definitions

purchase

[pur-chuhs]
See more synonyms for purchase on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object), pur·chased, pur·chas·ing.
  1. to acquire by the payment of money or its equivalent; buy.
  2. to acquire by effort, sacrifice, flattery, etc.
  3. to influence by a bribe.
  4. to be sufficient to buy: Twenty dollars purchases a subscription.
  5. Law. to acquire (land or other property) by means other than inheritance.
  6. to move, haul, or raise, especially by applying mechanical power.
  7. to get a leverage on; apply a lever, pulley, or other aid to.
  8. Obsolete. to procure, acquire, or obtain.
verb (used without object), pur·chased, pur·chas·ing.
  1. to buy something.
noun
  1. acquisition by the payment of money or its equivalent; buying, or a single act of buying.
  2. something that is purchased or bought.
  3. something purchased, with respect to value in relation to price; buy: At three for a dollar they seemed like a good purchase.
  4. Law. the acquisition of land or other property by means other than inheritance.
  5. acquisition by means of effort, labor, etc.: the purchase of comfort at the price of freedom.
  6. a lever, pulley, or other device that provides mechanical advantage or power for moving or raising a heavy object.
  7. an effective hold or position for applying power in moving or raising a heavy object; leverage.
  8. any means of applying or increasing power, influence, etc.
  9. the annual return or rent from land.
  10. a firm grip or grasp, footing, etc., on something.
  11. Obsolete. booty.

Origin of purchase

before 1150; (v.) Middle English purchasen < Anglo-French purchacer to seek to obtain, procure (Old French pourchacier), equivalent to pur- (< Latin prō pro1) + chacer to chase1; (noun) Middle English < Anglo-French purchas (Old French porchas), derivative of the v.
Related formspur·chas·er, nounmis·pur·chase, verb (used with object), mis·pur·chased, mis·pur·chas·ing.non·pur·chase, nounnon·pur·chas·er, nouno·ver·pur·chase, verb (used with object), o·ver·pur·chased, o·ver·pur·chas·ing.pre·pur·chase, noun, verb (used with object), pre·pur·chased, pre·pur·chas·ing.pre·pur·chas·er, nounqua·si-pur·chased, adjectiveun·pur·chased, adjective

Synonyms for purchase

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1. get, obtain, procure. 15. winch, capstan.

Synonym study

1. See buy.

Antonyms for purchase

1. sell.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for purchase

investment, acquisition, asset, shop, earn, invest, acquire, procure, redeem, take, buy, booty, bargain, acquirement, gain, property, steal, cop, secure, win

Examples from the Web for purchase

Contemporary Examples of purchase

Historical Examples of purchase

  • I suspect that she was the means of influencing so large a purchase.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • But she cannot surely be so mean as to purchase her peace with them at so dear a rate.

    Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)

    Samuel Richardson

  • The purchase of official positions in the army was thus abolished.

    The Grand Old Man

    Richard B. Cook

  • He had made up his mind to put an end to the purchase of commissions in the army.

    The Grand Old Man

    Richard B. Cook

  • What precautions should be taken in the purchase of shell fish?

    Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 3

    Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

British Dictionary definitions for purchase

purchase

verb (tr)
  1. to obtain (goods, etc) by payment
  2. to obtain by effort, sacrifice, etcto purchase one's freedom
  3. to draw, haul, or lift (a load) with the aid of mechanical apparatus
  4. to acquire (an estate) other than by inheritance
noun
  1. something that is purchased, esp an article bought with money
  2. the act of buying
  3. acquisition of an estate by any lawful means other than inheritance
  4. a rough measure of the mechanical advantage achieved by a lever
  5. a firm foothold, grasp, etc, as for climbing or levering something
  6. a means of achieving some influence, advantage, etc
Derived Formspurchaser, noun

Word Origin for purchase

C13: from Old French porchacier to strive to obtain, from por- for + chacier to chase 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for purchase
v.

c.1300, "acquire, obtain; get, receive; procure, provide," also "accomplish or bring about; instigate; cause, contrive, plot; recruit, hire," from Anglo-French purchaser "go after," Old French porchacier "search for, procure; purchase; aim at, strive for, pursue eagerly" (11c., Modern French pourchasser), from pur- "forth" (possibly used here as an intensive prefix; see pur-) + Old French chacier "run after, to hunt, chase" (see chase (v.)).

Originally to obtain or receive as due in any way, including through merit or suffering; specific sense of "acquire for money, pay money for, buy" is from mid-14c., though the word continued to be used for "to get by conquest in war, obtain as booty" up to 17c. Related: Purchased; purchasing.

n.

c.1300, purchas, "acquisition, gain;" also, "something acquired or received, a possession; property, goods;" especially "booty, spoil; goods gained by pillage or robbery" (to make purchase was "to seize by robbery"). Also "mercenary soldier, one who fights for booty." From Anglo-French purchace, Old French porchaz "acquisition, gain, profit; seizing, plunder; search pursuit, effort," from Anglo-French purchaser, Old French porchacier (see purchase (v.)).

From early 14c. as "endeavor, effort, exertion; instigation, contrivance;" late 14c. as "act of acquiring, procurement." Meaning "that which is bought" is from 1580s. The sense of "hold or position for advantageously applying power" (1711) is extended from the nautical verb meaning "to haul or draw (especially by mechanical power)," often used in reference to hauling up anchors, attested from 1560s. Wif of purchase (early 14c.) was a term for "concubine."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper